It’s a matchup of programs from the West Coast Conference in the Beehive State on the college hardwood. The Santa Clara Broncos make the trip to face the BYU Cougars Saturday night. Santa Clara comes in off a 67-64 win over Pepperdine at home in their last game Thursday night. BYU rolled past Portland 79-56 at home Thursday night in their previous contest. The Cougars hold a commanding 30-6 advantage in the all-time series and have taken the last two meetings, including an 80-58 home win in the last matchup on February 8, 2018.

Santa Clara Broncos Seek Rare Road Win

Santa Clara came up with a narrow win at home over Pepperdine Thursday night in their last game. The Broncos now try to pick up a rare road victory as they head out for this contest. Santa Clara trailed by eight at the half, rallied to lead by six with 1:39 to play and was tied in the closing seconds when Pepperdine fouled on a three point attempt. Tahj Eaddy hit all three free throws with 1.9 seconds to play and that proved to be the difference in the game. The Broncos shot 51 percent from the field, including seven of 19 from three point range, and won the rebounding battle 37-27. Eaddy had 28 points to lead Santa Clara in the win.

The Broncos put up an average of 71.6 points per game on the season. Santa Clara collects 35.8 rebounds per contest while dishing out 14.7 assists a night on the year. The Broncos are above average on the defensive end, ranking 152nd in the nation by allowing 70.3 points per contest. Tajh Eaddy leads the team with 17 points and 3.7 assists per game. Josip Vrankic (13.4 points, 5.8 rebounds), Trey Wertz (11.4 points, 5.1 assists) and Keshawn Justice (10.5 points) all average in double figures for the Broncos. Josh Martin, Guglielmo Caruso, KJ Feagin and Henrik Jaderstein all average at least 4.2 points per game this season. Feagin has played just two games this season thanks to a thumb injury. Santa Clara is hitting 45.8 percent of their shots from the field on the year. The Broncos are drilling 7.8 threes a night but the team has connected on 36.2 percent of their long range attempts. Santa Clara has work to do at the line as they stand at 68.4 percent shooting at the charity stripe so far this year.

BYU Cougars Look for Back to Back Conference Wins

BYU had lost four of their previous five games but got back in the win column with a drubbing of Portland. The Cougars now try for back to back conference wins as they are home again for this contest. BYU led by three with under a minute to go in the first half but reeled off a 10-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to go up 13. Portland didn’t get closer than nine the rest of the way. The Cougars shot 49.1 percent from the field, including nine of 26 from three point range, and forced 17 turnovers. Yoeli Childs led BYU with 28 points and 12 rebounds in the win.

The Cougars are putting up a hefty 83.5 points a game so far this season season. BYU is grabbing 37.4 boards per game and dishes out an average of 15.8 assists a night. The Cougars are below average on the defensive end as they are just 316th in the nation with 78.5 points per game allowed this year. Yoeli Childs leads the team with 22 points and 10.3 rebounds per contest. TJ Haws puts up 17.2 points, four rebounds plus 4.9 assists a night while Jahshire Hardnett chips in 10.9 points per game. Nick Emery made his season debut against Utah State December 5 and will be an important scoring option going forward. Connor Harding, Zac Seljaas, Dalton Nixon and Rylan Bergesen all average at least 3.2 points per game this season. BYU shoots 47.7 percent from the floor as a team. The Cougars sink 7.3 three pointers per game while shooting 31.7 percent from downtown. BYU is good at the free throw line, sinking 74 percent of their chances this season.

Notable Trends

Cougars are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400

Cougars are 10-2 ATS in their last 12 home games vs. a team with a losing road record

Cougars are 4-1 ATS in their last 5 home games.

Broncos are 4-11 ATS in the last 15 meetings

The Bottom Line What to bet on this game.

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Santa Clara has a massive undertaking here as they are just 1-2 on the road this season and 1-2 on neutral floors. The Broncos are facing a BYU team that is 8-1 at home this season and the Cougars always seem to play tougher in Provo. Santa Clara has missed the steadying presence of Feagin, who continues to be out with a thumb injury. BYU looked good in dismantling Portland and with Santa Clara’s limited weapons offensively, you have to give the Cougars the nod in this one.

Prediction: BYU Cougars -11.5

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Santa Clara has some solid wins on the books already this season. They beat USC and San Diego at home while picking up a win over Washington State on a neutral floor. Of course, they also were waxed by 43 on the road by Gonzaga last week, which gives one pause. BYU had dropped four of five before getting back on the right side of the ledger by whipping Portland at home. Can the Cougars put together back to back conference wins at home with a triumph here?

The over is 6-2 in the Broncos’ last 8 road games vs. a team with a winning home record and 7-3 in their last 10 on the road. BYU has seen the over go 4-1 in their last 5 games following a straight up win of more than 20 points, 9-3 in their last 12 Saturday games and 8-3 in their last 11 home games vs. a team with a road winning % of less than .400. The teams have seen the over go 7-2-1 in the last 10 meetings at BYU: look for this one to squeeze over the number as the Cougars get their offense going again.

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Chris Kubala

Christopher Kubala has been crunching stats and following sports for over 30 years. His in depth analysis and passion for sports have led him to writing books about sports, regularly being featured on sports talk radio and as the go-to person for any obscure trivia. He keeps an eye on transactions and statistics like a hawk, especially when it comes to football, both the NFL and college, the NHL, the NBA and college basketball and MLB.